(ALEXANDRIA TOWNSHIP) – Agriculture Secretary
Charles M. Kuperus today applauded the preservation
of the 105-acre Lyness Farm in the Highlands region
of Hunterdon County, and highlighted the importance
of Public Question #1 on the November 4th ballot to
make available more state funding for open space and
farmland preservation.

“The preservation of farms like the Lyness Farm is key to building a strong
future for agriculture in New Jersey,” said Secretary Kuperus. “When
we invest in our land, we’re also protecting the quality of life in communities
like this for generations to come. That is why Public Question #1 on the November
ballot is so important.”

Kuperus said the constitutional amendment would make available $150 million
more to acquire and protect open space and farmland in the Highlands
region, as well to fund park development in densely populated cities,
older suburbs and other developed communities – without placing
additional costs on New Jersey taxpayers.

Kuperus spoke at Thomas and Mary Lyness’s recently preserved 105-acre
farm near Everittstown village in Alexandria Township. So far, six farms
covering 457 acres in Alexandria Township have been preserved at a cost
of $2.1 million. The Lyness Farm was preserved through the Hunterdon
County Farmland Preservation Program for $509,000, of which the state
paid $332,000 of the cost. The easement purchase means the land will
remain in private hands but has been permanently restricted by easement
for agricultural use.

Thomas Lyness said it was an important family goal to see the farm permanently
preserved. He and his wife, Mary, were raised in urban Plainfield but
Thomas had spent his summers on a family farm and the couple had always
wanted a rural life. Their son Gerry has taken up farming full-time,
growing hay and raising cattle to produce organic beef.

The Lynesses first lived in a rural area of Bridgewater, “but we
got surrounded by more and more development. To see some of these places
go, it is a real shame,” Lyness said. “We moved here in 1985
because this is a beautiful area. Since then we had a number of developers
sending us letters and approaching us. After second thoughts about it,
we just didn’t want all those houses.”

Today’s event wraps up a month-long schedule of farmland preservation
events at which Secretary Kuperus has discussed Public Question #1 and
highlighted a number of preservation projects, with visits to farms in
nearby Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, on Oct. 1, and in Burlington,
Monmouth, Warren, Sussex, Camden and Morris counties.